Lucern inhaled deeply and sighed as she opened the file and unintentionally brushed his arm with hers. Then his gaze landed on the top page of the agenda. He frowned. "According to this, the conference started on Sunday."
"No," Kate said. Then she corrected herself, "Well, yes. They had some events for anyone who wanted to join ahead of time, but the official start isn't until tomorrow."
"Hmm." Lucern decided to keep his mouth shut. He should be grateful that she hadn't forced him to go through the pre-conference crap, too.
"So," his editor said with a return of her determined cheer. "Tomorrow starts with the morning walk with cover models. Then the brunch—"
"What the deuce is a morning walk with cover models?" Lucern interrupted. He'd already seen the agenda, of course—both on the internet and in the paperwork she'd sent him. But nothing had described any of the listed events.
"Er… well, actually, I'm not sure," she admitted. She cleared her throat, her smile a tad strained. "But it doesn't matter—you don't have to attend."
"I don't?" He peered at her suspiciously. Something she didn't want him to attend? That seemed strange. He had been sure that she was going to drag him to every single function.
"No. Your first official event will be the Welcome Brunch and R.T. Awards."
Lucern nodded. Those didn't sound so bad. He could eat. Although the awards part would probably be boring.
"Then there's the Reader Hospitality Suite and discussion," she went on. "Allison and Chuck want you there."
"Who are Allison and Chuck?"
"Allison is the head editor, my boss," Kate explained. "And Chuck is the company president. They'll definitely expect you to attend the Hospitality Suite."
Lucern grimaced. "What is it?"
"It's…" She appeared to be at a loss for a moment. "Well, each publisher—most of them, anyway—rents out a reception room at the hotel, and writers and editors talk to the readers who come in."
"You want me to talk to people?" he asked in horror. Dear God, he should have done the signing! That would have been less bother, just scribbling his name.
"Of course I want you to talk to people," Kate said with exasperation. "You can do it. I've seen you speak." She fell silent and stared at him, alarm growing on her face. She bit her lip. "Or maybe we can skip that. No, Allison and Chuck would have a fit. You have to go." She sighed heavily. "Oh, damn. This isn't good."
"No, it isn't," Lucern agreed with a nod. Then he jerked around with surprise as the door opened beside him. They had apparently arrived. Without his realizing it, the car had stopped, and the driver was now waiting for him to alight. Nodding his thanks, Lucern slid out then turned and took Kate's hand when she followed.
"We'll need to work on you tonight," she decided as she straightened next to him.
Lucern stiffened and dropped her hand. "Work on me?"
"Yes. Work on you," Kate repeated. They followed Lucern's luggage into the hotel. It was on a trolley, being pulled by a uniformed bellhop. Apparently the driver had seen to the luggage before opening the door for them.
"I don't need 'work,' " Lucern said irritably as they stopped at the elevator.
"Yes, Lucern, you do." Kate smiled sweetly at the bellhop as the doors opened, and he gestured for them to enter.
"I do not," Lucern insisted, following, squeezing himself up against Kate to leave room for the luggage trolley.
"Can we talk about this later?"
Kate gave an impatient nod at the bellhop and pushed the button for their floor. At least Lucern presumed it was their floor. He hadn't a clue, though she had said someone named Chris had already checked them in. He supposed this Chris was another editor. He wondered if she would be as annoying as Kate.
He glanced at the bellhop, confused at Kate's desire to put this off. The man was a servant, hardly worth worrying about. Although he didn't want to argue either. "No. There is nothing to discuss. I do not need to be worked on."
"You do," Kate insisted. "And I'm not going to talk about this now."
"There is nothing to talk about."
"There is," she snapped.
The bellhop gave a soft chuckle, and Lucern glared at him. There had been a time when servants knew their place and would have been deaf and dumb to such discussions. That time wasn't now. He constantly forgot how rude the world had become.
The doors opened and the bellhop moved the trolley out; then he led them down a long hall past countless doors. At the end he stopped, pulled out a card key, opened the door, then pushed the trolley in.
"Which room do these go in, ma'am?" he asked, pausing in the center of a large chamber set up as a living room.